The Early Years Nursery

The Early Years Nursery Plaistow Park, Greengate Street, London, E13 0AS

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 07/08/2013 17/04/2013

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early years provision

This inspection: 2 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 2 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 2

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This provision is good

 Staff use effective observation and assessment systems that enable them to plan purposeful and challenging opportunities that help to enhance children's learning and development.  Staff challenge children to investigate and find out about themselves and other living things through planned activities, topics and themes.  Children are developing a confidence in exploring, wanting to find out and asking questions to make sense of the relationship between humans and other living things.  Children's good health is actively promoted through daily routines, varied and nutritious meals and daily exercises that help to extend their physical skills.

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It is not yet outstanding because

 Children's growing self-help skills are not fully encouraged at meal times.  Staff do not make regular use of the local environment to help children become aware of the local environment and some of its features.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector had discussions with the manager.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the children during play and the staff's interaction with the children.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a variety of documents, which included safeguarding policies, staff records, attendance records and children's assessment reports.

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Information about the setting

The Early Years Nursery is one of five of nurseries owned by Foundations for Learning. It registered in 2003 and operates from a converted barn style building in Plaistow in the London Borough of Newham. The nursery works in liaison with Newham Community College and offers a training room for students studying for qualifications in early years childcare. Children have access to an enclosed outdoor area. The nursery is open each weekday from 8am to 6pm all year round.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are currently 53 children aged from birth to four years on roll, some in part-time places. The nursery has a number of children with special educational needs on roll. The nursery employs 12 members of staff to look after the children. The manager has a degree in Early Childhood Studies and is qualified to teacher status. Nine members of staff hold early years qualifications at level 3 and 4. The nursery also employs bank staff.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 allow children who are able to serve their own food and pour their drinks at meal times in order to further develop their self-care skills

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 visit different parts of the local area to enable children to learn about the local community and become familiar with the features of their environment.

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who attend

The staff have good knowledge and understanding of the areas of learning. Their planning and assessments reflect children's individual needs and allows them to identify and plan the next steps in each child's learning. In addition to this, the manager and staff monitor how children use the resources and use their knowledge of children's interests to plan children's individual needs and the group needs. As a result of this, all children have access to a broad range of activities that are purposeful and challenging. Staff organise the resources in the nursery so that children safely access resources indoors and out in the play area. This helps to encourage children to make choices about their play. For example, children choose toys and equipment from low level storage shelves and spend a long period of time deeply involved in their exploration. Children self select outdoor mobile equipment that they prefer to play with, some of them choosing to push the buggies

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who attend

instead of riding tricycles. Children see to their personal needs such as, visiting the toilet and when to wash their hands. However, children's self-help skills are not fully encouraged. This because staff do not always allow children who are sufficiently able to pour their own drinks at snack time and serve their own food at lunch time.

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who attend

Staff help children to set up their own investigation to find out about their growth in comparison to the growth of plants. For example, children use a measuring tape to compare the height of twins and discover the differences in the twin's height. Staff also provide children with opportunities to observe and compare differences of height between babies, toddlers and pre-school children. Staff provide children with opportunities to make comparisons between planting strawberry seeds in the mud outdoors and placing bean sprout seeds in wet cotton wool in a container. These activities help children to develop their exploration skills through using their senses to observe, touch, smell the runner bean seeds and taste the fully grown strawberries. Consequently, children are learning to make sense of the relationship between humans and other living things. Staff set up water play activities to encourage babies to explore bubbles in water. Staff also provide many

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who attend

opportunities for babies to interact with their environment by using their sense of observation, listening and touch. For example, babies see their images in mirrors; they discover the feel and texture of natural materials in the treasure basket and listen to different sounds when playing with musical instruments.

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who attend

Staff encourage children to record their observations. Children begin to record what they have observed or made in drawing, model making and by using a camera. The children are beginning to develop the skills in reading the keyboard symbols on the computer and some of them know what to do to start up a programme. Younger children are developing skills in using the computer mouse to move the cursor symbol on the screen. Children enjoy playing in the outdoor play area. However, they do not have many opportunities to go outside beyond the nursery to help them learn about the local area where they live or the features of their environment.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children arrive happily into the nursery. They quickly separate from their parents and eagerly approach their friends and the activities that are set out for them to play with. Children develop close and caring relationships with their key persons. This is because the key persons know them well and are responsive to their individual needs and daily routine care. Older children also demonstrate confidence in relating to other staff and adults. Children are also able to work and play with their friends over a period of time. The children's behaviour is good. The staff use effective behaviour management techniques, including praise and encouragement to help children understand that unwanted behaviour is not acceptable. Children also learn to be polite to each other and cooperate during games and group activities.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff support children to develop an understanding of the importance of a healthy diet through discussion and activities. For example, they talk to children about foods that are good to eat. Staff also provide opportunities for children to plant and grow fruits that children can smell and taste. Children benefit from a healthy diet. They enjoy nutritious and balanced meals brought in by outside caterers. The manager monitors the menu in order to make sure that the food caters for all children's dietary requirements. The cook prepares the morning and afternoon snacks for the children, which includes fresh strawberries with yoghurt, sandwiches, and fresh vegetables. This helps children to develop good eating habits.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff regularly check sleeping babies and children to help ensure their safety and well- being. They are vigilant to make sure that items with small parts that could cause choking are not accessible to babies when they share the main playroom with older children during breakfast and early morning sessions. Staff support children to understand about how to keep themselves safe through discussions and topics about road safety. In addition to this, children learn about emergency evacuations when they and staff take part in practising the emergency evacuation procedures.

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provision

The manager and staff have secure knowledge of the signs and symptoms of children being at risk of harm. They also follow effective procedures to help ensure that children's welfare is properly safeguarded. For example, they competently monitor the security of the premises and carefully check any visitors so that children are not put at risk from unwanted visitors. In addition to this, they have efficient procedures for the safe arrival and departure of the children, such as, knowing the persons who bring children into the nursery in the mornings and those authorised to collect them when parents are not able to. The manager is very aware of her responsibility to inform Ofsted and relevant statutory agencies of any allegations about a member of staff's conduct and to undertake investigations on their advice. Staff have a secure knowledge of the whistle blowing policy and this further promotes children's welfare. The provider has good recruitment and

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provision

vetting procedures that help to ensure that staff employed in the setting are suitable to work with the children. They also check staff's suitability by initiating Disclosure and Barring Service checks on each staff member every three years in order to assess staff's continued suitability. The staff are well deployed so that there is always more than one staff on duty at the beginning and at the end of the day even if there is only one child on the premises. The manager and staff further promote children's safety through regular risk assessments indoors and outdoors that enable them to identify and quickly remove or address any potential hazards. All mandatory records are in place, confidential and well maintained. This contributes to the well-being of the children.

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provision

The manager has good induction processes for staff that impact positively on children's health, safety and well-being. The manager regularly holds staff meetings and works alongside staff in the rooms to monitor the effectiveness of the educational programme. Also, staff's ongoing room meetings, designated tasks, supervision sessions and appraisals enable to help ensure that they have the most relevant information about childcare practices available. These practices have contributed to children making good progress in their learning and development. The manager and staff use precise self assessments of their practice to identify their strengths and any areas for development. They also use information obtained from parents' suggestions or feedback from questionnaires about the service their child receives to improve the level of care and education that they offer to the children. The nursery has started to address the recommendation raised at a recent

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provision

inspection, which has positively impacted on children's awareness of skills in using the computer.

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provision

The manager and staff have established strong partnerships with parents; as a result, children's individual needs are fully met. Parents' written responses to the nursery's questionnaires indicate that they are happy with the ongoing progress that their children have made. The parents' written responses also indicate that they find the daily communication to be good and that the staff are caring to their children. The manager is secure in her understanding of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, which means that the setting is able to put systems in place to support children who have special educational needs. The staff work closely with parents and external agencies to enable them to meet and plan for the individual needs of children with special educational needs.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY273240 Local authority Newham Inspection number 931535

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 60 Number of children on roll 53 Name of provider The Foundations for Learning Partnership Limited Date of previous inspection 17/04/2013 Telephone number 020 8472 8700

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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